ok first i'll list out my hardware configuration to avoid confusion later on:
Abit SE6 (i815e chipset)
Pentium3 600EB
128MB PC133 Generic RAM
Nvidia Geforce256 SDR 32MB
SB Live! Value w/ Hoontech Optical Addon
D-Link 10/100 NIC
here's the configuration of my hard drives:
Hard Drive #1: IBM 20GB, partitioned into a 5GB NTFS partition and a 15GB FAT32 partition.
Hard Drive #2: an old 6GB, partitioned as a whole FAT32 partition.
also, i have a CDRW as a secondary master, and a DVD drive as the slave.
the 5GB NTFS partition is the C: drive and i'm (trying) to install win2k on that partition, the rest of the partitions are for backup.
ok, now the problem:
so i got my copy of win2k and i wanted a fresh install, so i formatted my c: drive and then following the win2k installation instructions, i pop in the win2k cd into the cdrom drive and boot up. the cd should be bootable so i was expecting it to boot up... it didnt. so i assumed my cd drives cant boot up off a cd and made the installation floppies. i made all four disks and popped #1 into the drive, and booted up. this is where i ran into problem #1:
the first floppy comes up with these words when it loads up: "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration." unfortunately, it got stuck on that screen. the floppy light is still on but no other lights are active. and also, there are no reading sounds coming from the floppy drive either. so, i assumed that there was a problem with my hardware... i removed my network card, and detatched my DVD drive (since i'm using a 'hacked' firmware that makes it region free, i think that windows doesnt really like that). i booted up and this time, it went into the installation procedure.
however, after i set up win2k, it wants to restart after doing all the settings and stuff. so i reboot it, and it boots up to blank screen. right after it says "Verifying DMI Pool Data..." it just goes into a blank screen.
its wierd because i had the same problem when win2k setup wanted to reboot after copying all the files to the hard drive. to fix it, i changed the boot order in my BIOS and everything booted up fine. however, the next time i had to reboot the same thing happened again. it just booted to a blank screen.
so i thought something was wrong with my win2k installation and i put in my installation floppy again to reinstall/repair it. however, the first problem happened again. it got stuck on the "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration." i checked all my hardware to make sure everything was alright and seated properly, and the only change i made was to plug in the CD AUDIO IN wire into my CDRW drive (since it was previously connected to the detached DVD drive). i booted up and it went to the installation screen again.
however, this time it booted up i noticed how it listed "ACPI Controller" on IRQ 9. i never noticed this before and i wanted to see if win2k would boot if the ACPI Controller was detected. so, i quit the setup program and rebooted the computer (with the installation floppy out, of course), and this time, win2k booted up! i installed my INF drivers from my motherboard cd and i had to reboot again. this time, however, the ACPI Controller wasnt listed on the devices on startup and, again, it booted up to a blank screen.
so, whenever the ACPI Controller is listed on the device list on startup, it boots up fine. however, when it's not, it doesnt. it seems the only way i can get ACPI to show up on the device list at bootup is when i put in my installation floppy and start up the setup program. however, sometimes the setup doesnt even start because the ACPI Controller isnt listed. after endless trial and errors i figured out so far the only way i can get the ACPI controller to show up is when i detatch something on my computer (lets say, the CD audio in wire), boot up to the blank screen, shut down, re-attach it, boot back up with the installation floppy in. only then will the ACPI controller be listed and i can start the setup/boot to win2k. and whenever i reboot, the ACPI controller will be gone again.
i know this post is really really long, and i probably lost some of you in the middle somewhere, i tried my best to make it easy to understand, but i'm pretty stressed out and confused right now (after spending till 2 in the morning last night, or should i say, today) trying to figure out what's going wrong.
any suggestions? comments? thx guys.
Abit SE6 (i815e chipset)
Pentium3 600EB
128MB PC133 Generic RAM
Nvidia Geforce256 SDR 32MB
SB Live! Value w/ Hoontech Optical Addon
D-Link 10/100 NIC
here's the configuration of my hard drives:
Hard Drive #1: IBM 20GB, partitioned into a 5GB NTFS partition and a 15GB FAT32 partition.
Hard Drive #2: an old 6GB, partitioned as a whole FAT32 partition.
also, i have a CDRW as a secondary master, and a DVD drive as the slave.
the 5GB NTFS partition is the C: drive and i'm (trying) to install win2k on that partition, the rest of the partitions are for backup.
ok, now the problem:
so i got my copy of win2k and i wanted a fresh install, so i formatted my c: drive and then following the win2k installation instructions, i pop in the win2k cd into the cdrom drive and boot up. the cd should be bootable so i was expecting it to boot up... it didnt. so i assumed my cd drives cant boot up off a cd and made the installation floppies. i made all four disks and popped #1 into the drive, and booted up. this is where i ran into problem #1:
the first floppy comes up with these words when it loads up: "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration." unfortunately, it got stuck on that screen. the floppy light is still on but no other lights are active. and also, there are no reading sounds coming from the floppy drive either. so, i assumed that there was a problem with my hardware... i removed my network card, and detatched my DVD drive (since i'm using a 'hacked' firmware that makes it region free, i think that windows doesnt really like that). i booted up and this time, it went into the installation procedure.
however, after i set up win2k, it wants to restart after doing all the settings and stuff. so i reboot it, and it boots up to blank screen. right after it says "Verifying DMI Pool Data..." it just goes into a blank screen.
its wierd because i had the same problem when win2k setup wanted to reboot after copying all the files to the hard drive. to fix it, i changed the boot order in my BIOS and everything booted up fine. however, the next time i had to reboot the same thing happened again. it just booted to a blank screen.
so i thought something was wrong with my win2k installation and i put in my installation floppy again to reinstall/repair it. however, the first problem happened again. it got stuck on the "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration." i checked all my hardware to make sure everything was alright and seated properly, and the only change i made was to plug in the CD AUDIO IN wire into my CDRW drive (since it was previously connected to the detached DVD drive). i booted up and it went to the installation screen again.
however, this time it booted up i noticed how it listed "ACPI Controller" on IRQ 9. i never noticed this before and i wanted to see if win2k would boot if the ACPI Controller was detected. so, i quit the setup program and rebooted the computer (with the installation floppy out, of course), and this time, win2k booted up! i installed my INF drivers from my motherboard cd and i had to reboot again. this time, however, the ACPI Controller wasnt listed on the devices on startup and, again, it booted up to a blank screen.
so, whenever the ACPI Controller is listed on the device list on startup, it boots up fine. however, when it's not, it doesnt. it seems the only way i can get ACPI to show up on the device list at bootup is when i put in my installation floppy and start up the setup program. however, sometimes the setup doesnt even start because the ACPI Controller isnt listed. after endless trial and errors i figured out so far the only way i can get the ACPI controller to show up is when i detatch something on my computer (lets say, the CD audio in wire), boot up to the blank screen, shut down, re-attach it, boot back up with the installation floppy in. only then will the ACPI controller be listed and i can start the setup/boot to win2k. and whenever i reboot, the ACPI controller will be gone again.
i know this post is really really long, and i probably lost some of you in the middle somewhere, i tried my best to make it easy to understand, but i'm pretty stressed out and confused right now (after spending till 2 in the morning last night, or should i say, today) trying to figure out what's going wrong.
any suggestions? comments? thx guys.